After a year-long competition, a 25-year-old architect, Francis Mawson Rattenbury, was chosen in March 1892 to design B.C.’s new Parliament Buildings. Construction began in 1893, partly to try to boost a stagnant economy. Every effort was made to use local materials and resources — granite foundations from Nelson Island; site facades from Haddington Island stone; and local brick, lime and Douglas fir for the construction work. The total cost was not to exceed $600,000. When the commission was completed four years later, amid much controversy and argument, the total cost came to $923,882.30.

Although B.C.’s new Parliament Buildings were completed in late 1897, the opening was delayed to
coincide with that of the Legislative Assembly. Lieutenant-Governor T.R. McInnes formally opened the
buildings on February 10, 1898. The only dignitary not attending was the mercurial architect Francis
Rattenbury. He was in England raising funds for a scheme involving Klondike steamboats.
At the time they were built, the Parliament Buildings were criticized as an unnecessary extravagance,
particularly since they came in over $300,000 over the original $600,000 budget.
Between 1911 and 1915 Rattenbury designed additions to the structure, including the magnificent
library, with its elegant marble-panelled rotunda. [Legislative Assembly of British Columbia web site, http://www.legis.gov.bc.ca/#]